Jumbled Heartaches
by TheXtremeFangirl
Summary: *Repost* Cora Mills had deluded herself into thinking that her life was perfectly fine. Until someone from her past shows back up in town. Will she admit to her unhappiness? Or will she continue trying to live a lie? *On hiatus for now*
1. Chapter 1

Cora Mills, mayor of small town Storybrooke, Maine, had come to expect the morons in her town to come to her with the most asinine complaints _ever_. So when a knock sounded on her office door, she didn't even glance up from the paperwork she still had mounds of as she called for whichever idiot it happened to be this time to come in. However, when no one entered, the sound of a young Australian girl's voice outside the door caught her attention, as she didn't recognize the voice.

"Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." The girl was obviously concerned about whomever she was talking to, and it piqued Cora's interest. She stood from her desk, her stilettoes clicking confidently on the floor. She opened the door, prepared to see a young couple, or perhaps a young girl and her father. Either one would have been better in her opinion. Her breath left her, and it felt like her heart had stopped as she stared at a man she'd never thought she'd see again.

"Rumple?" she managed to whisper. Rumplestiltskin stared at her for a moment longer before finally regaining his voice.

"Hello Cora." he said in a carefully neutral tone. The young girl beside him looked between the two in confusion.

"You two know one another?" she questioned. Cora nodded slowly, unsure of who this girl was to Rumple.

"We're old friends." the man in question answered.

"I didn't know you were back in town." Cora said, her composure finally restored. He shrugged noncommitally.

"We arrived about an hour ago." She nodded and opened her office door wider, a silent invitation for them to enter. They did, and she gestured over towards the couch.

"Would either of you like something to drink?" she asked, hoping to God that at least one of them said yes so she had her own excuse to drink.

"Yes please. Strongest thing you've got." Rumple answered, earning him a nudge from the young girl beside him, which he promptly ignored. She nodded and poured two crystal tumblers, both filled nearly to the brim, and handed one to him before quickly downing her own and refilling it.

"Am I...missing something here?" the young girl asked.

"No!" both others said quickly.

"Okay." the girl replied, dragging the word out. "Well, seeing as Rumple's not planning on introducing me anytime soon, I'm Belle, Rumple's fiancee." At those words, Cora choked on her drink.

"Are you alright?" Belle asked in a concerned tone as the woman in front of her coughed and spluttered. Cora managed to nod, placing her drink down and bracing herself on her desk.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright." she managed to get out once her coughing had died down. Thankfully her phone began to ring, and she said a silent thanks. She looked at the caller ID, hoping it would be someone important so that she could use the 'I have to take this' excuse.

 _Henry_

She breathed out a silent sigh of relief that she could most definitely use her excuse. She turned back to the couple sitting on her couch with an apologetic expression.

"Excuse me, but I really must take this." she apologized before sliding her thumb over the answer button and bringing the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Cora darling, I didn't have time to stop by the office. I just wanted to let you know that I've got to go to Boston for a few days. I leave tonight." Henry's voice came through.

"What? Henry, you swore you would be here for little Henry's birthday." Cora said into the phone, irritated.

"It was last minute dear. I have to go."

"Tell them no! Our grandchild is far more important than whatever they want you to go to Boston for!"

"I can't just tell them no Cora! I could be fired!"

"They would never fire you! You're one of their best employees! Henry, I swear to God, you cannot keep doing this to our kids. They're starting to take it personally." she snapped.

"They would fire me if I started to tell them that I'm not going to do the work. I have to make money or else we're going to lose this lavish lifestyle you enjoy so much. Do you want to go back to the way you were living before we got married?"

"Don't you dare throw that in my face! I was living perfectly fine before I met you!"

"Don't you have mayoral duties to attend to dear? I'll talk to you later."

"Henry, don't you da-" Before her sentence was even finished, the line had gone dead. She growled under her breath before turning back to Rumple and Belle.

"Was that your husband?" Belle asked curiously as Cora all but slammed her phone down onto her desk.

"Yes. He's the head of an oil company and has just informed me that he's leaving for Boston tonight and is going to miss our grandchild's birthday, which he _promised_ our daughter he would be here for." she ranted, her anger getting the better of her and making her forget who she was talking to.

"I told you years ago not to marry him." Rumple mumbled. She was almost positive that she wasn't supposed to hear it.

' _You_ _ **begged**_ _me not to marry him._ ' she corrected in her head.

"We didn't mean to intrude. We just wanted to reintroduce Rumple to everyone and introduce me." Belle said. "I'm so sorry about your husband." Cora nodded.

"Not your fault dear. It was very nice to meet you, and nice to see you again Rumple." she forced the words out of her mouth and forced a smile onto her face. "Have you moved back to town, or are you just visiting?"

"Moved back. Belle thought it was a good idea." Rumple answered. She nodded again.

"Well then, welcome to Storybrooke."

 **I really don't need to be putting up a new story, but this idea's been bugging me, and there's another one that's been bugging me, so I'm probably gonna end up putting that one up soon as well.**


	2. Chapter 2

**People don't write enough Golden Heart stories. It makes me sad. *sigh* There also aren't enough stories letting Cora be a real mom to Regina. I'd like to see more of people's point of views as to what Cora would have been like had she kept her heart, whether she still married Henry or if she ran off with Rumple, or even something AU like this. Okay, I'm done ranting. Enjoy!**

It was late the same afternoon as Rumple and Belle's arrival that Cora found herself sipping coffee in Granny's Diner. She was lost in thought when her youngest child slid into the seat across from her.

"Hey mama. Where's daddy? I went by the office, and he wasn't there. There was no answer at the house, and he's not answering his cell either." Regina said.

' _Of course he'd leave me to tell them._ ' Cora thought. "He had to go out of town." Regina's face fell, and it broke Cora's heart.

"Again? He just got back." she said quietly.

"I know darling. He said it was last minute and that he couldn't get out of it."

"He promised he'd be here for Henry's birthday!" Regina cried angrily. Cora sighed, setting her coffee down.

"I know sweetheart. We'll still make his birthday memorable." she soothed. Regina sighed heavily, slumping back in the seat.

"I hate when he does this." she said bitterly. Cora shook her head.

"Don't go into that train of thought my love. It's not worth it." she warned. Regina nodded, playing with a sugar packet. She glanced up around the diner and spotted a familiar face. One from years and years ago.

"Is that Neal?!" Dread filled Cora instantly as she turned to where her daughter's vision was centered. And sure enough, there he stood. Neal Gold was staring back at them. Regina grinned and jumped up out of her seat, running at the man so fast he barely had time to catch her in a hug. Cora was much slower in standing and moving over to him, knowing that there were most likely emotions left over that she didn't particularly wish to deal with.

"Hello Cora. Or I suppose it's Mayor Mills now." he said when she approached. He sounded so much like his father that she nearly faltered. Nearly.

"Hello Neal." she replied. "And no, Cora's just fine."

"You're looking well." he complimented.

"As are you. It's been a long time."

"It has." Regina looked between the two, thoroughly confused.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Nothing Gina. Just a little overwhelmed at being back." Neal assured her, though she wasn't truly convinced.

"So you've moved back as well?" Cora questioned.

"Mhm."

"Are you staying with your father and Belle?" Neal nodded.

"Who's Belle?" Regina inquired.

"My father's fiancee." Neal answered.

"I can't believe you guys are back in town!" Regina grinned. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too Gina." he chuckled, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Ooh, you have to join all of us for drinks tonight! Mom's watching Henry and Hazel." she suggested.

"Henry and Hazel?" he questioned.

"That's right! You haven't met the kids! Henry's my son, and Hazel is Zelena's daughter. Henry's turning three this week, and Hazel is two months tomorrow." Regina explained, tugging her childhood best friend over to the booth she and her mother had just been occupying. He was ten years older than her, but they'd been the best of friends before Rumple had packed up and left town, taking his son with him. Cora smiled faintly at the two, walking to the empty hotel hallway, pulling out her buzzing cell phone, and sliding her thumb over the answer button.

"What is it Henry?" she asked, still irritated from their conversation earlier that day.

"I'm sorry about hanging up on you earlier my love, but I really needed to go. We had to go into a meeting." her husband replied.

"We?"

"Yes. I brought Eva along." Cora's eyes darkened, though her husband couldn't see.

"Eva is with you? In Boston? Sixty miles away?" she questioned, her voice carefully neutral. A sigh came through from the other side.

"Cora, please, can we not have this conversation again?" Henry pleaded.

"Fine. Have fun at your conference." Cora snapped. She hung up and threw her phone back into her purse.

"Everything alright?" She jumped, her hand flying to her heart as she turned to face Rumple.

"What the-" she stopped herself from cursing, as she'd promised Regina that she'd try to keep it to a minimum for Henry's sake. "What are you, a vampire?" He laughed lowly.

"If you want my mouth on your neck, you just have to ask." he teased. A light laugh escaped her against her better judgement, and she relaxed against her own will. He'd always been able to make her relax.

"I see Neal's come back to town with you." she commented. He nodded.

"He has. He's missed everyone. I've missed people too. Some more than others." She didn't miss the double meaning behind the words.

"Well, I'm sure everyone has missed you too. Some more than others." she replied meaningfully. He smiled at her, but she could see the pain in his eyes. Pain she that she was quite sure was reflected in her own. For a moment, they let themselves forget.

Forget that years had passed.

Forget that she was married, and he was engaged.

Forget everything that had transpired between them in the past.

Rumple slammed her against the wall, attacking her mouth with his. She wound her arms around his neck, her purse dropping to the floor and the contents scattering all over the hallway, but she kept up very well.

' _She's always been very good at that._ ' a voice somewhere in the back of his mind reminded him, but he was too preoccupied to acknowledge that fact. He began placing kisses down her neck, and she closed her eyes, letting her head fall back to rest on the wall. And then a voice in her head ruined the moment.

' _You're not a teenager anymore._ ' it whispered. ' _You're an adult, and you know this is wrong. You're married, and he's engaged. Think of how devastated the children will be._ ' She allowed herself one more moment of bliss before gently sliding her hand to his chest and pushing.

"We can't do this." she said breathlessly. "I'm married, and you're engaged." He nodded slowly, his grip on her waist tightening briefly. Then he released her and helped her pick up the scattered contents of her purse. He picked up her phone, catching a glimpse of the screen as he handed it to her.

 **I'm sorry about the fight my love. I promise there's nothing going on with Eva**... The message trailed off there, and he knew that the rest of it would only be seen by her whenever she opened the message. But the small bit he saw was enough.

Her husband seemed to love her, and that was enough for him. He owed it to her to let her keep trying in her marriage, and he owed it to Belle to not be unfaithful. The both of them quickly made sure they were presentable before exiting the hallway and re-entering the dining area. Regina and Neal spotted them, Neal giving them a knowing look as Regina got up and practically flew to him as she had to his son.

"Hello dear." he said to the smiling girl. Well, woman now he supposed. She was twenty three years old and apparently had a child. As he spoke to Regina, he saw Cora exiting the diner from the corner of his eye. He wished that he could keep her from leaving but knew that he couldn't. She disappeared around the corner outside, and he felt a part of him die all over again. The scene was so familiar...

And that's what hurt the most.


	3. Chapter 3

Cora sighed as she took off her glasses, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Expense reports, budgets, and town complaints were making her want to renounce her position as mayor and crawl under a rock. Taking a brief moment to collect herself, she placed her glasses back on and picked up her reading. She was so preoccupied, she didn't even look up when her office door opened.

"What could possibly be wrong now Leroy?" she asked tiredly.

"Are they giving you a hard time?" Her head snapped up at the sound of Rumple's voice.

"Uh, yes. They do that quite often." she laughed breathily. "Leroy likes to complain about Mother Superior and the nuns singing too loud with the chorus." He nodded as he approached her desk.

"Can we talk?" he asked. Cora slowly pulled her glasses off of her face, her heart beating quickly in her chest.

"I suppose." she agreed and gestured over to the couch before following him over and sitting beside him. "What would you like to talk about?"

"I think we should talk about what happened...before I left." Her heart rate increased once again.

"I don't see that going well." she warned. He acknowledged that with an incline of his head.

"I don't either. But...we're going to be living in the same town again Cora. We're going to see each other all the time, and I think it's best if the air is cleared between us early on. Otherwise people are going to get suspicious. Just because it's been fifteen years doesn't mean they're not going to be judgemental and downright cruel about it if it gets out." He pointed out. She sighed quietly in defeat.

"Yes, I suppose you're right. Where would you like to start?" she asked.

"Why didn't you listen to me about Henry?"

"Because I knew you were right. And I knew that if I truly allowed myself to sit down and listen to you, I wouldn't have married him." she answered.

"And why did you marry him? You told me you didn't care about all the luxury he could offer, and yet you left anyway." She could tell that he was suppressing anger, that he thought she had lied to him.

"I didn't. I don't. But I needed to leave. To give you and Neal the best chance in this town that you could get." she answered.

"What do you mean?" She took a deep breath.

"Rumple...we were hiding. The only person that knew about our relationship was Neal, and he was only six. You know that we hid because everyone would have judged us. They would have been cruel and hateful to Neal. And if I had turned Henry down, everyone would have wanted to know why. And if we had worked out? If we had decided to get married? I didn't want Neal to have to go through the hatred that he would receive if we were to be outed, and I didn't want you to have to go through it either. Your best shot was to get away from the poor miller's daughter whose father was the town drunk." He had moved closer to her by this point, and his eyes had softened considerably as she stared miserably into her glass, tears in her hazel eyes.

"Cora." he said softly. "Look at me." She slowly moved her gaze up to his, the unshed tears glinting in the light of the office.

"You were my best shot." he told her gently, yet firmly. "You are the only woman who has ever mattered to me."

"You are the only man I have ever truly loved." she whispered.

And with that, his lips met hers.

 **Long wait for a short chapter. I hate myself for it. I'm super sorry guys, but I've gotten caught up in other stories and managed to lose my muse for this one! Help me out with ideas?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so for the rest of this story, let's all pretend that Regina is the oldest child instead of Zelena and that my saying she was the youngest in chapter 2 was a typo.**

As she was rebuttoning her suit jacket, Cora's phone went off. From his spot on her office couch, Rumple lazily picked it up and handed it to her.

Her screen read _Regina_.

"I'm not sure if I should answer or not." she admitted.

"If you don't she'll just get worried and come looking for you." Rumple pointed out, quite enjoying the view of her backside.

"Good point." she acknowledged with a sigh before swiping her screen to the answer button. "Hello?"

"Hey mom. Do you think you can take Henry early? He's been asking for you ever since I got home. Oh and Hazel too since Zelena asked me to watch her until tonight." Regina's voice floated over the phone.

"Um, I think I can swing that. What time?" Cora asked, wedging her phone in between her shoulder and her cheek in order to put her stilettoes back on her feet.

"Ten minutes? I'm on my way to meet up with Neal and Zel. The office is on the way." Mentally, she began to concoct an excuse as to why Rumple was in her office.

"Sure. See you in ten minutes." she agreed. The two said goodbye, and Cora hung up the phone before spinning to face Rumple with her hands on her hips.

"You have to finish getting dressed." she announced. "Regina will be here in ten minutes with the kids." He nodded, standing and taking the shirt she handed to him.

"We're not done here you know." he informed her, pressing another kiss to her lips. "We have a little over twenty years to catch up on."

"Mmm, I would expect nothing less." she teased just before the door to the office swung open and an energetic two year old crashed into her legs.

"NANA!" Henry cried.

"Hello my darling." Cora grinned, swinging him up onto her hip. The little boy immediately locked his arms around her neck, babbling happily about his day with his mother and baby cousin.

"Mr. Gold!" Regina grinned, moving to hug the man standing in her mother's office. "I didn't know you'd be here." Rumple smiled back at her.

"I just came by to catch up with your mother." he replied, sneaking a glance at Cora, who was quite oblivious as she played with her grandchildren. Regina nodded.

"Yeah, I figured. Hey, when do I get to meet this fiancee of yours? I need to make sure she's not insane." she informed him seriously. He laughed out loud at that.

"You can meet her whenever you'd like." he replied, chancing a glance at Cora to see her reaction. Her face betrayed no one emotion, but he could always read her by looking into her eyes. And the way that she was avoiding eye contact with him told him that she knew that and that she didn't want him to see how she was feeling.

"Are you busy tomorrow? I'm heading to meet Zelena and Neal for drinks, but I don't have any plans tomorrow if mom can watch the kids." Regina said, looking at Cora at the end of her sentence.

"You never have to ask dear. I'm happy to watch them anytime." Cora answered the implied question.

"Yay, nana tomorrow too!" Henry cheered, hugging Cora tighter. Regina laughed lightly at her son's enthusiasm.

"Well, I should get going. Thank you for watching them mom." she said, kissing her mother's cheek and her son's forehead before waving goodbye to Rumple and heading out.

"I should probably go too." Rumple admitted. Cora nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I think that would be best for now. Perhaps we can continue to _catch up_ in a day or two when I don't have the kids?" she suggested pointedly. He grinned, which made her smile in return.

"Of course." he agreed before kissing her cheek and leaving himself.

He had a feeling that not only was catching up with her going to be interesting, it was going to be _fun_.

 **Sorry to make you guys wait so long for such a short chapter. I neglected all of my stories, so I'm just trying to get something up for each of them until I can get something better written up. Hope you enjoyed, and let me know your thoughts, or what you'd like to see in this story! And don't worry, all the requests I've gotten so far, I am trying to figure out when and how to work those in.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm back! I'm so, so sorry for the long wait guys, and I'll try not to make it so long before the next chapter this time. Most of this chapter is likely going to be terrible since I'm trying to get back into the feel of writing and where I had been going with this story, so I apologize for that as well, and I hope you like it anyway.**

It had been two weeks since they'd given in, and they'd been meeting up at every opportunity since then. Cora saw Neal around every now and then, and the knowing look he gave her each time reminded her of the relationship between herself and his father when he was just a child.

He'd always been clever, but she had to hand it to him. They had tried very hard to keep their relationship a secret. Both times.

' _Perhaps we're not as discreet as we think._ ' she thought as she entered Granny's to pick up a quick lunch. She was buried in paperwork she'd been neglecting in favor of spending time with Rumple. However, she knew as soon as she walked in that she would not be getting any work done that day. Not only were Neal, Rumple, and Belle in the diner, but Regina, Zelena, and their children were there. And Henry had already spotted her.

"Nana!" he cried, leaping from his seat and nearly flying at her. She managed to catch him, pointedly ignoring everyone else around.

"Hello darling." she smiled softly.

"Will you eat with us nana? Please?" the little boy pleaded. He turned his big brown eyes on her, and she knew she'd lost this fight.

"Of course my love." she agreed, mentally screaming at herself for thinking coming to the diner was a good idea. She shared a glance with Rumple and Neal as she passed their table, and the spark in Rumple's eyes didn't escape her notice. Regina immediately made room for her when she got to the table, and they at least let her sit down before asking the one question she didn't have a clear answer to.

"Mom, when's daddy coming home?" Zelena asked first.

"I don't know darling. At first he said a few days but then he extended it to a week then two, now he's extended it to three. We may not see him for a few months at the rate he's going." Cora answered, fully aware that Rumple was discreetly listening from his table. It surprised her slightly that they were able to fall back in sync so quickly after so many years apart. Regina rolled her eyes.

"Of course we won't." she muttered. Little Henry chose that moment to move from his grandmother's lap to his mother's.

"I should get going girls. I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on." Cora informed them, moving to stand up. It was amazing she'd gotten an opportunity so quickly. Usually Henry didn't leave her lap until he was finished eating.

"Are you sure? You didn't even eat mom." Regina said, frowning. Her mother waved her statement off.

"I'm not hungry darling. I'll see you later." she replied before kissing them goodbye and leaving the diner as fast as she could. If she hadn't, Henry likely would've conned her into staying and then into taking him with her, and she had plans for that night, therefore she needed to get her paper work finished as quickly as humanly possible, or maybe a little faster.

She made it to the office in record time, cranking up the air and shedding her suit jacket and button up shirt in favor of a tank top she kept around for days like that one. It was scorching, and for once the sleepy little town wasn't overcast to counteract the heat. After making sure the air would run steadily and throwing her hair up, she immersed herself in the mounds of paperwork she'd let accumulate. She was so focused on her current task that she didn't even hear her office door open or the footsteps of a visitor walking to and around her desk to stand behind her.

It wasn't until she felt hands on her shoulders that she realized she was no longer alone. Her first instinct, of course, was to tense up. However, when the hands on her shoulders began to rub the tension in them away, she knew it was only Rumple.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack." she muttered, leaning her head back against her chair and closing her eyes.

"I apologize my darling, but I wasn't exactly quiet." he replied, amusement coloring his tone. She hummed, a smile making its way onto her face.

"I was trying to get some _actual_ work done you know, especially if we're supposed to get together tonight." she pointed out after a few moments. "I think someone is going to get suspicious that the mayor goes to work everyday but always has piles of work to do that never get any smaller."

"Perhaps you're right. I suppose I should stop..." he said, going to move his hands from her shoulders.

"No!" She caught one wrist, dragging his hand back into position while the other one simply followed suit as he laughed at her. He placed a kiss on the back of her head, moving to massage in between her shoulder blades. She moaned quietly and knew there was no way she was getting any work done. Especially when he moved his lips to her neck and started moving downwards. She gasped quietly when he pushed the straps of her tank top down and nipped at her shoulder.

"Don't leave marks." she reminded him warningly, though the breathless tone of her voice removed any heat from the statement.

"Your shoulders are always covered woman." he mumbled before spinning her around and claiming her mouth.

*A few hours later*

"She's going to be so surprised you're back daddy!" Regina said happily, linking her arm with Henry Senior's. He smiled at her as they walked towards the Town Hall with Zelena and Neal, who had been invited by his childhood friends.

"I do hope so my dear. I hate leaving her angry." he told her. Grinning even wider Regina picked up the pace a bit. That's when a sudden thought occured to Neal.

He had no idea where his father was that day. Which could very well mean...

"She may be in a meeting." he pointed out when they entered Cora's assistant's office. The woman's chair was empty, which meant Cora had likely given her the day off. Which would give her the perfect opportunity to be alone with his father.

"Oh, that's right. She said something about a lot of work. Maybe she had a meeting or two scheduled." Zelena agreed. Neal shook his head at her cluelessness, thanking God that the two girls had such faith in their parents' marriage.

"I'll walk ahead and check, just in case she isn't." he said. He didn't even allow anyone else to say anything before hurrying down the hall towards the office. Once he reached the door to Cora's office he managed to make out her silhouette along with his father's. It looked like his father was trying to undo her bra while kissing her neck. Worse than that, Neal could actually hear them.

"Rumple, I'm trying to get dressed!" she laughed.

"I realize that. Which is why I'm trying to get you _un_ dressed." was his father's reply. Nearly gagging, Neal took off as fast as quickly as he could without raising suspicion. By the time he'd made it back to the waiting area, he was only slightly calmed down, though he hid it well.

"She's in a meeting." he said.

"I guess we'll just have to wait." Regina sighed. They all sat down in the chairs scattered around, and once he was sure everyone else was occupied, Neal pulled out his phone.

 _To: Cora and Dad_

 _Wrap it up and get decent! The girls are in the waiting area!_

He decided not to tell them that Henry was there too. It was supposed to be a surprise, not to mention it would serve them right for sneaking around the way they were. He knew his father still loved Cora when they left, but to him this was just wrong. He waited a few moments and was rewarded with a reply from Cora.

 _To: Neal_

 _Ten minutes. Thank you Neal. I owe you._

He rolled his eyes, putting his phone back in his pocket. Sure enough, exactly ten minutes later, both of them came into the waiting area, having a conversation about potholes in the road. It was kind of disturbing how in sync the two of them were in everything, even lying. Finally Cora was the first to look up, and her mouth dropped open at the sight of her husband.

"Henry!" she exclaimed, at a loss for what to say.

"Hello dear." Henry smiled, standing up and moving forward. He kissed his surprised wife before turning to Rumple and offering his hand, which of course Rumple took in order to keep up appearances.

"Rumple! Good to see you again. When did you get back into town?" Henry asked.

"A little over two weeks ago." Rumple answered. Henry nodded, slipping an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"I thought you weren't coming home for another week." Cora said, glancing over at Neal, who shot her a look that said she deserved this.

"I wanted to surprise you darling." Henry replied.

"Yes well...you certainly did." she muttered. "Anyways, I have to get back to work."

"Mom, you've been working all day. Can't you take a break?" Zelena asked. Neal just barely managed to keep from saying that she had already taken a, likely rather long, break from her work.

"No sweetie, I can't. I still have far too much to do." Cora answered, shaking her head.

"But daddy just got home. Wouldn't you rather be home with him?" Regina questioned. Cora pasted on a fake smile and forced an appropriate response out of her mouth.

"Of course dear, but someone has to run the town, and sadly the only person currently qualified to do so is me." Regina looked like she was about to argue, but Henry spoke up before she could.

"Your mother's right darling. I'll see her when she gets home." he said. Sighing dramatically, the eldest Mills girl nodded. Afterwards, everyone finally said their goodbyes, leaving Cora alone in her office.

Sitting down in her chair and picking up her pen once more, the mayor sighed heavily.

They were going to have to be more careful.


	6. Chapter 6

**I have not written anything at all for months, so this may not be the greatest thing, but hopefully it's not too terrible.**

 **Also, I have decided to give the Blue Fairy a name since she doesn't actually have one in the show other than "Blue" or "Mother Superior", simply because I think Cora deserves some friends, and I have chosen Anita (Ruby's mother) and the Blue Fairy. So, for my purposes, Blue will be known as "Lisa".**

It was late the same day when Cora finally pulled her black Mercedes into the driveway of 108 Mifflin. With nothing left to distract her, she'd finally managed to get some actual work done and had worked well into the night. And if the reason behind that was partly because she didn't want to go home to face her husband, well that was just her own little secret. Most of the lights in the mansion were out, but to the mayor's dismay, both the living room and the master bedroom's lights were shining brightly.

Taking a deep breath to soothe her nerves, she got out of the car and walked up to her front door, briefcase in her hand. She took her time finding her house key and unlocking the door before entering, tossing her keys into the bowl in the foyer. Moving as quietly as possible, she headed towards the kitchen. Her plan was to grab the quickest, quietest thing in the room to make as a late dinner and then sequester herself in her home office until Henry gave up and went to bed. However, the flaw in her plan was revealed when she heard the unmistakeable sound of little Henry's laughter followed by the laughter of her daughters.

It was a wonder how she hadn't noticed their cars parked out front. With a small sigh of resignation, Cora walked to the living room, leaning against the door frame to observe her family. Henry was sitting on the couch, looking far older than his actual age of fifty four. Each of the girls were sitting on either side of their father, watching as his namesake sat on the floor, enraptured by whatever mindless cartoon that was undoubtedly dominating the television screen. Finally, her eyes landed on baby Hazel, sound asleep in the baby swing that stayed at her grandparents' house.

"Nana!" It was her darling grandson that first noticed her presence, jumping up to run to her as he so often did.

"Hello dear. How was work?" her husband asked once their grandson had been appeased by her returned greeting.

"Fine. Boring." Cora answered as Henry stood and crossed the room to kiss her. It took all of her strength and a very well timed picture of Rumple in her head to keep from recoiling.

She had learned to love her husband over the years, truly, she had. But she had never been able to force or trick herself into falling _in_ love with him. He was a wonderful friend, and she knew that he loved her, at least to some degree. But she also knew that she would never be able to be the wife she pretended to be.

"Mom, do you think you can watch Hazel tomorrow? I have a job interview." Zelena's voice broke through the moment, and Cora thanked her internally.

"Of course darling." she nodded, her eyes straying over to her peacefully sleeping granddaughter.

"I wanna stay with nana too!" little Henry exclaimed, tearing his attention away from the television.

"Sweetie, you can't. You have to get fitted for your tuxedo for Ms. Blanchard's wedding on Saturday, remember?" Regina reminded the little boy. Cora nearly groaned at the reminder of the wedding she'd almost forgotten about.

Leopold and Eva Blanchard's only daughter Mary Margaret was set to marry Ruth Nolan's only son David that Saturday. The entire town had been invited, yet Mary Margaret had begged Regina to let Henry be the ring bearer for the event. The boy had been absolutely overjoyed at being included, therefore Regina had agreed. Given her own dislike of the Blanchards, Cora was absolutely dreading having to attend and put on a show of being nice. But, she assumed Mary Margaret, being the sickeningly sweet girl that she was, had invited Rumple and Belle once she'd heard they were in town, so at least she could look forward to seeing him there.

It took another few minutes and promises of seeing his grandmother after his fitting to convince Henry to leave the Mills home without pitching a fit. Once he was appeased, he, Regina, and Zelena were able to leave quickly, and as soon as they were gone, Cora immediately took Hazel from her baby swing and put her in her crib upstairs. After that she went to get dressed for bed herself, if only to avoid her husband for a little while longer.

And that alone made her feel horrible. He didn't truly deserve to be ignored by her, nor did he deserve her being unfaithful. But she didn't know what else to do anymore. She hadn't been thrilled to marry him in the first place. Her unhappiness had only been on a downward spiral since then, and she believed now was the point that it was truly hitting its peak. She couldn't do anything with him without feeling as though all the life were being sucked out of the air around her, and she knew that it wasn't his fault, but it was difficult not to blame him when she felt so trapped and miserable.

"Cora?" his voice made her jump, and she realized, as she was shaking off her thoughts, that she'd been standing in the closet in only her bra and underwear for the last few minutes.

"Yes?" she asked with forced calm as she quickly pulled her satin nightgown on.

"Dear, are you alright? You hardly spoke a word to the girls tonight." Henry said. The sincerity in his words only served to upset her further.

"I'm fine." she answered. "Just tired." She walked over to her nightstand, picking up her bottle of sleeping pills and taking two of them.

"I do wish you wouldn't use those so much." her husband commented, shaking his head. "They're not healthy for you."

"They're natural sleep aids." she countered, already tired of having this conversation again. "They're perfectly healthy." Without giving him a chance to reply, she pulled back the blankets on her side of the bed and turned out the lamp on her nightstand. She heard him sigh quietly before getting dressed himself and getting into bed.

And as she opened her eyes to stare at the bedroom wall, Cora Mills had a feeling that her life was going to get a lot more complicated very soon.

 **Sorry for the long wait and short, probably really bad, chapter, but I have had some serious writer's block/lack of will to write anything for a while now, and I'm trying to get back into it. And as a result of my absence, I lost sight of where I was going with this story, so I'm also trying to regain that a little. If you have any suggestions, please leave a review letting me know, and I will see you next chapter.**


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